Monday, January 31, 2011

These simple words can create a beautiful and well lived life. Chloe is such a beautiful girl inside and out, and is so good at finding balance in all of those things. I want to be more like her, and appreciate her example to all of us every day. The newest Hambly on this is the gold Silhouette Overlay and the Remixed Wood Grain in brown on gold shimmery paper and again I have left some design room for Washi tape. The bright pink with the delicious brown and richt gold is such an elegant and whimsical combination, just like Chloe, and it makes me smile from ear to ear!

I just love this picture, she looks like she has an interesting secret doesn't she? (maybe she does, lol!!)

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Okay, so this ended up being my favorite project that I made from the new releases. I got the shipping notice Monday and the package of product on Wednesday afternoon. Not sure what Allison would be sending, I didn't know what kinds of pictures to print, so I just waited to see what would arrive and go from there. I have to admit that I am pretty proud of myself for getting three layouts done that night and finished a fourth they day before I left amongst the hair cut appointment, laundry and packing. I was inspired by Laura sharing how many projects that she had made this month (29!!!) so here is my inventory of what I have made in the last month:

8 layouts for various circumstances as well (Doodlebug catalog and display, Hambly, and for a book project)

3 tussy mussies that are in the Graphic 45 booth loads of fussy cutting for those!

2 party hats for the Graphic 45 booth as well

1 mini-album

and last but not least 1 gift bag that was for a book project as well.

So there isn't much time in there to sleep, exercise or eat, but somehow I survived and had a blast doing it all! I seriously tell myself everyday that I am the luckiest girl, I get to do what I love everyday :o)

I used the newest rub-ons from the Photography and Silhouette sheets, and the lace rub-ons that were released last summer. The Birds on a Wire Overlay is a new release as well, and is so amazing!! I want one of everything in every color, this release is so fantastic!!

It is so hard to believe that it was almost 20 years ago that Laurel came into our lives, that makes her vintage in my book :o)

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Time for another Hambly sneak!
Love the happy yellow banner rub-ons, and was inspired by the technique Dina did a few months ago on the Hambly blog. I had learned this technique when I had gone to Ranger U, but had forgotten about it until she did her FAB tutorial. I just sprinkled some of my Adirondack Alcohol inks onto the backs of the pre-cut circles and then sprinkled and swirled Alcohol blending solution with it. So fun!! The gray Baby Buggy Overlay and Pink Silhouette Overlay are so beautiful, and I wish you could see how colorful and beautiful this is in real life! I did leave some space on it so we could put some of the new Washi tapes on it when it gets to the show, so if it has changes, I will be sure to re-photograph and share!

So grateful you stopped by to see what was going on, and hope you have a wonderful day!!

Friday, January 28, 2011

Sneak Peek #1 of Hambly Mustache Overlay in brown, I used it with other of the brown overlays in the different styles to compliment it, and then used red to give it a little pop of color. Love these pictures, they have the most natural smiles and easy happiness about them :o)

Love the 'staches, can't wait to have a little more time to play with them!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

My bag is actually packed before midnight, I have most of the things checked off my list and the few things that aren't soon will be! I will get to be in bed at a reasonable hour and be well rested for my exciting trip to Los Angeles for the Craft and Hobby Association Winter trade-show! My super cute and incredibly talented friend Laura Vegas will be my roomie, and she had the best way of describing this show to her Steelers super fan husband, it is the "Super Bowl of scrapbooking"!

I made quite a few projects with the Once Upon a Springtime line from Graphic 45, and this is one of my favorites! The papers are so fun to fussy cut, and they have an elegant whimsy that is absolutely delightful!

Thanks for stopping by, and I am going to try and get some Hambly projects pre-posted here so there is something to look at for the next few days, and be sure to visit next week, a couple of my very dear friends have some big things in the works and I can't wait to gush about them!!

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I promised a sneak peek of what I had been up to, and so here it is! It has been a fun couple of weeks working with Graphic 45's newest releases, they are fabulous! There wasn't much opportunity to snap some pictures because of the tight time frame to get them made and then handed over, but I did manage to catch this one before it went out the door. I used the Curtain Call line and some of the products from the Staples collection that they do as well.

I thought it would be fun to share a few more peeks of product as they lie on my desk...

Maybe you can find them hidden amongst the mess, lol!!!

Off to create some more, the newest Hambly arrived today (SWOON!!!!), and it is calling out wanting to be played with :o)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

This has been a fun month as a guest artist with Skipping Stones Design! They have beautiful art, a very talented team and I was thrilled to be included with the stellar artists that were guests as well this month. The last project used this sketch that was created by Amy Sheffer:

Skipping Stones has free shipping if you use the code "freeship" at checkout and be sure to become a subscriber to their newsletter to keep up with all of the goings on! This Thursday a special coupon code is going out in it just for the subscribers, you don't want to miss that!!
Anyway, thanks to Heather and Kandi at Skipping Stones Design for letting me play along!
And come back to visit soon, I am going to share a few pictures of projects that will be on display at CHA in the Graphic 45 booth.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

You have to say that like Adam Sandler does in the movie "Bedtime Stories" when he is thinking he is going to be getting a cherry red Ferrari "for free"...
Not really, that isn't what will give you the opportunity to join the Art-Full Horizon event for free, but if you head over to the Art Full horizon blog, the details are all there, and it is easy to play along. It has to be given away to someone, so why not give it a try and then maybe it could be you!!!

In other news, I am exhausted and have been working until 2 or 3 in the morning and getting up at about 8 or 9, but I am loving what I have been making! There are piles of work still waiting for me, and I promise that I will share pictures of something soon, but for now all I can do is string you along and let you know that the paper crafting industry is amazing!!!
B-

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

It has been a whirlwind around these parts, having family around while we all discussed our loss and treasured our many memories was a wonderful way to spend the short amount of time that we had together. One of my amazing uncles said it so beautifully in the memorial service, "there is much consolation in a life well lived". It has given me much to think about and some new goals in how to prioritize in my decision making. I feel very blessed to have a large and involved family in my life!
The whirlwind part is that it is also the time of year where I have the opportunity to work on projects for the Craft and Hobby Association trade show that is in just 10 days and there are many deadlines for making sure that these projects make it into shipping crates that need to be on the way to the show by this Friday or Saturday. Juggling the commitments that I had made prior to the passing of my grampa, and the desire to spend as much time as possible with my siblings that had traveled very far and a great expense made for a very wacky schedule and the loss of a few hours of sleep. But it is all worth it to feel the love of my family and also send some of my creative spirit on its way.Makes me a very lucky girl!
In the midst of all of that, I have also been a guest artist for the month with Skipping Stones Designs, and this weeks project features the new release called Birthday Purses. It is such a cute and very clever set with the fun and quirky sentiments and the beautiful purse images, so fun to use!

The Cosmo Cricket Delovely is so bright and cheerful with this set, and the card came together so easily! Love it when that happens :o)

I am off to enjoy my wonderful, wacky, whirlwind of a Wednesday. There are beautiful Graphic 45 papers from their two new releases on my desk waiting for me to play with them, and who am I to say no...

Friday, January 14, 2011

It has been a bit of a rough week with my Grampa going into the hospital last weekend with bacterial pneumonia and slipping into a coma on Sunday and then passing away on Tuesday. We are having services for him tomorrow, it will be a very love filled gathering as all of his 7 children will be there most of his 30 grandchildren and a good portion of his 65 great grandchildren as well. And while it is always bitter when you lose someone that you love very much, my faith that he has gone on to spend eternity with his cherished wife and adored mother and father carries me through my grief.
It is funny that for the last 3-4 weeks I have been thinking about him a lot. No reason really, just pondering him, his life, his choices and how lucky I am to have had such an inspirational example in my life for so long. He was a very simple man that could fix almost anything. So creative in his problem solving and even though they didn't have lots of worldly possessions, his family never lacked for anything. He worked constantly, even at night when he had to be exhausted from all of the days work and the service that he provided to others he would sit to watch the television with my gramma and he would make clothes hangers. When we visited for the night if we wanted to watch with them we were expected to make hangers too. It was fun, easy and made us all feel productive even in our most relaxed state of the day. I am sure that there are thousands of those hangers in all of the families and friends closets and most of his grandchildren could show others how to make them if we had the supplies at hand.
Anyway, I feel extraordinarily blessed to have his example of selfless and unconditional love in my life and feel that it has helped shape me into a lot of who I am today.

Good bye for now Grampa, I hope that I can follow in your steps knowing that you followed in the steps of the Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Until we meet again, I will keep you with much {love} in my heart.
B-

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Welcome to the Skipping Stones Design Blog Hop to celebrate the release of two new sets, Heartsong and Purse Birthday! Today the DT and Guests of SSD will be featuring cards using Heartsong. If you've just happened upon my blog today, make sure to start from the beginning at Skipping Stones Design. You should have arrived here from Jennifer Ingle's blog.

Combined with the blog hop today, it's also Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday which means we're showcasing another great creation from our Guest Sketch Artist this month, Amy Sheffer. We'd love for you to play along with the sketch and link your card at the Skipping Stones Blog. A lucky winner that joins our sketch challenge will win either a free stamp set or half off any stamp set in the store!and then when you are ready for another beautiful project, hop on over toKandi Phillips blog

The Heartsong combined with Pink Paislee's Sweetness made me giddy with happiness. I had to be a little cheeky and make sure to put one of the cute notes from the set as the body for the butterfly, and if you look really carefully you can see the music notes used in Adirondack Pigment Sunshine Yellow on the background. A subtle detail that tied it all together for me.

Combined with the blog hop today, it's also Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday which means we're showcasing another great creation from our Guest Sketch Artist this month, Amy Sheffer. We'd love for you to play along with the sketch and link your card at the Skipping Stones Blog. A lucky winner that joins our sketch challenge will win either a free stamp set or half off any stamp set in the store!

Starting Monday the 10th and going until Monday the 17th at midnight Skipping Stones Designs are having a buy 3 get of FREE sale.Make sure to enter the code:"1free" when checking out to recieve the discount!

Sunday, January 09, 2011

It has been busy around here and I have been a little under the weather. I have missed blogging, but don't have to much to say except "hi" so I though that this little cute card would be a fun way to thank you for stopping by and give you a little "hi" as you head on your way :o)

Do you have favorite go to products right now? What are they?
With CHA just around the corner I know that what I am grabbing for will change a little and it is always so exciting this time of year to start watching for the sneak peeks! What company's sneaks are you waiting anxiously for?

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

I am thrilled to be designing as a guest artist this month at Skipping Stones Design! They have a guest sketch designer as well as some other wonderfully talented stampers. This is the sketch for the week with more to come, and if you are interested in playing along with everyone, you can go to this post and share a link to your projects.

The stamp set I used will be released soon and is called Heartsong. It is full of beautiful images and wonderful sentiments, I loved using it for the Valentine project that I had imagined would work beautifully with the sketch.

Some of you may not know this about me, but I rarely use sketches so this is going to be a very fun and inspiring month of stamping and going outside of my comfort zone. If I can do it, so can you :o)
Thanks so much Heather and Kandi for inviting me to play along!!

Monday, January 03, 2011

It is the perfect time for a campfire! The kids are back in school, the house is quiet and it is too cold to be outside doing all the outside things that I love to do, so a little October Afternoon Campfire is the thing to do on a crafty winter's day!

Carter and Dave went with their Boy Scout Troop on a camping trip for Memorial Day weekend and they built huge fires, ate tons of junk food, hiked and fished. They had a wonderful time, and I hadn't scrapped the pictures they brought home (much happier to have those than the fish they caught, lol!) yet. Along came the Campfire line, and it was a match made in heaven for me!! Scrapping goes so much faster for me when I don't have to push to use product for pictures. It seems to all fall into place when the product is inspiring the pages practically make themselves and the stories come to life.

If only everything were that easy life would be a cake walk ;o)

I think January is the perfect time for a campfire, don't you?
B-

p.s. if you are interested in winning 9 packs of patterned paper, head over the CLASSroom and leave a comment!